Ch.100Secret Agreement

Miklós Horthy cautiously began to speak.

I wondered what story he would tell and how he would try to persuade me using Romania as his subject.

“Your Majesty has distinguished yourself on the battlefield and brought Russia to this point. I’ve also heard that your foresight is so keen that people say you can see the future. How long do you think this Anti-Comintern Pact will actually last?”

“Hmm. You’re saying it won’t go as I hope.”

Though he didn’t explicitly say it, his implication was clear: “You’re young and inexperienced. The world doesn’t work so simply.” That’s what he wanted to convey.

Fair enough. I did offer the carrot too quickly.

He might think I see the world too simplistically.

“Yes. Especially within Hungary, I don’t think these Anti-Comintern Pact conditions will be accepted as they are. Austria faces an immediate threat from Germany, and Bulgaria has the condition of invading Greece, but Hungary is somewhat removed from these situations, isn’t it?”

In other words, he’s saying it’s too delicate for him to decide everything alone.

Well, I expected something like this might come up.

“So fundamentally, you need something,” I said.

“At the very least, to reform the Austro-Hungarian union with Austria, I need to persuade the aristocracy and upper class.”

“Which means you need something to silence them.”

Let’s be direct rather than beating around the bush.

In short, to form a union with Austria, Horthy himself needs to have stronger influence.

From his reaction, it seems Horthy doesn’t have complete control over Hungary.

I wonder what happened when the Austrian Empire collapsed. Why is Horthy in this position? It would seem too intrusive to ask directly.

Let me create my own theory.

He’s already in a position of having received help from Romania, and for Horthy to better control Hungary, he needs to score some points.

“Yes. At minimum, we need to reclaim Transylvania. Of course, I’m grateful that Romania helped prevent the communist revolution. But if we’re looking at root causes, wasn’t it Romania’s fault for betraying Austria and Germany by siding with the Entente during the last war, despite being Hohenzollern? That defeat led to communists festering internally.”

“Hmm.”

He wasn’t entirely wrong.

Of course, Romania did surrender midway, but they certainly took advantage when the Entente won.

Moreover, I don’t properly know the altered history.

I don’t know how the communists emerged.

The Soviet Union collapsed, yet communism still sprouted within Hungary—there must be some butterfly effect at work there.

“Transylvania. Hmm.”

I tapped my fingers on the desk.

How should I handle this?

Telling him to figure it out himself might disrupt the Austro-Hungarian union plans.

“Isn’t there some way?” he asked.

“There are options. But the fact that you’re asking me is itself problematic.”

I did prepare for this situation.

The Anti-Comintern Pact I created is strictly limited to anti-communist defense.

“Pardon?”

“The Anti-Comintern Pact is strictly a defensive alliance ‘against communism,’ as the name suggests.”

“You mean…”

Horthy was beginning to catch on.

He was starting to understand what I meant.

“It only guarantees territories in terms of anti-communist defense. For example, if you claim sovereignty over Transylvania with the legitimate reason of reclaiming ancestral territory, rather than for anti-communist purposes?”

“Would that be acceptable?”

“Haven’t Britain and France built their nations through all sorts of deception? If they can do it, why shouldn’t Hungary? And…”

Should I say this?

It’s truly wordplay, but… it seems like the only option right now.

Whatever.

Many people trust me in Russia anyway.

Maybe Horthy will trust me too.

“Please, Tsar, share your wisdom.”

“In our country, we have a term called ‘Special Military Operation.’ It means a military operation, not a ‘war.'”

I never thought I’d say this with my own mouth.

To directly suggest such wordplay.

I carefully explained the concept of a Special Military Operation to Horthy.

In Russia, we packaged the Turkish deployment as a “Special Military Operation” to avoid people asking “Another war?” Similarly, Horthy could package his actions as “Not a war!”

“So if we seize Transylvania without declaring war first, and call it a Special Military Operation?”

“As expected of a military man, you understand quickly. And if Austria helps Hungary in this process, wouldn’t forming the Austro-Hungarian union become easier?”

If Austria supports Hungary, the Austrian Empire could win the favor of Hungarian officials, and they could form an unstable but functional Austro-Hungarian union.

This isn’t bad at all. Even I think it’s brilliant.

“Hmm, with a surprise approach, it’s not impossible. But if things escalate too much…”

“Start by just claiming sovereignty and putting pressure on Romania.”

Cross the line with a Special Military Operation, but first create the conditions by pressuring Romania and slowly working toward reclaiming Transylvania.

“Hmm, but making sovereignty claims out of nowhere seems a bit much, doesn’t it?”

He wants quite a lot, doesn’t he?

No, wait. Hold on.

There might be another way.

“Do you know about Prince Carol of Romania?”

“Of course. He’s a prince with a notoriously bad reputation even within Romania. I heard that when marriage talks arose between him and Grand Duchess Olga, your sister, she refused the promiscuous Prince Carol.”

Good. Horthy knows about this.

Indeed, Grand Duchess Olga disliked Carol II for this reason.

What I’m about to say might make Horthy believe my nonsense about seeing the future, but…

Better to be certain, right?

Even if my prediction is wrong and Romanian royal affairs unfold differently from original history, Russia can mediate when conflicts arise over sovereignty claims.

It’s just the difference between having proper justification and having somewhat adequate justification.

“Would you believe me if I told you I could foresee the future? Of course, even I’m not certain about it. If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to brazenly move forward with sovereignty disputes.”

“Please, do tell.”

Horthy prepared to listen with a slightly curious expression.

At least he shows willingness to hear me out.

Fine. I’ll speak freely.

Whether he believes me or not is his decision, and honestly, with history changing, it’s impossible to know how far things will deviate.

“Within a few years, the current Romanian king will exclude Carol from the line of succession and name Prince Michael as crown prince.”

“Is that true?”

“So target that moment to approach Carol II. Offer to support his legitimate claim to the throne in exchange for Transylvania, Hungary’s rightful territory.”

“What if it turns into a civil war?”

If it becomes a civil war? That’s even better.

Then you can immediately implement the Special Military Operation.

Honestly, I don’t think it will escalate to civil war, but…

“Then it’s a Special Military Operation.”

“Does this mean Russia won’t intervene at all?”

Isn’t that obvious?

Why would we intervene? There’s no reason to.

That’s precisely the loophole in the Anti-Comintern Pact. If Russia says “Please don’t fight,” Hungary can respond “Isn’t the Anti-Comintern Pact limited to communist threats?” and tell Russia not to intervene in the Transylvania issue. Russia would have no choice but to step back with a “Can’t be helped.”

“Of course. The Anti-Comintern Pact might wobble a bit. We’ll call it a loophole in the pact and pretend we regrettably can’t intervene in this internal matter between Hungary and Romania. Then when Hungary requests Russian mediation, we’ll step in.”

But it seems the Tsar of Bulgaria had already noticed this loophole.

It’s literally an Anti-Comintern Pact, after all.

That’s why he used Greece as a condition for joining the pact—to preemptively ensure I wouldn’t interfere with his Greek issues.

“You’re quite unlike a saint. Remarkable. Ah, I apologize for my rudeness.”

Horthy bowed his head slightly.

It’s not rude at all.

I don’t understand why I’m considered a saint either.

Everyone calls me “Oh, Saint!” and the Russian Orthodox Church recognizes me as a saint, so I suppose that’s how it is.

“That’s just how this business works.”

“If Your Majesty’s words are true, what does Russia gain from mediation?”

Right. Russia should get something in return for mediation.

That would be Bessarabia.

“Bessarabia, of course.”

“Romania seems destined to lose all the land it expanded into.”

Horthy took a sip of tea with a sardonic smile.

That’s how it would be.

But you know what? Even though Romania was on the same side as Russia and Britain, today’s situation is the consequence of Romania joining the war and taking others’ lands.

Ferdinand I isn’t particularly impressive compared to his wife.

His wife essentially did all the work.

Though she wasn’t exactly normal either.

“Wasn’t it Romania’s fault for joining the Entente and taking Transylvania and Bessarabia?”

“If this succeeds, Ferdinand’s wife, Marie of Edinburgh, will be grabbing the back of her neck in frustration. Hahaha!”

Marie of Edinburgh, Ferdinand’s wife.

Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and the granddaughter of Russia’s Alexander II.

Ferdinand I’s wife. The Queen of Romania who persuaded Ferdinand to join Romania to the Entente (Allied Powers).

Afterward, as we can see, she seized plenty of territory.

Privately, Marie of Edinburgh was extremely promiscuous, having affairs despite her husband Ferdinand and even bearing children from her affairs.

Ferdinand apparently just tolerated it.

If the seizure of Transylvania happens faster, perhaps Austria-Hungary could be rebuilt more quickly.

I had considered maintaining Romania’s status quo, but considering that Romania switched sides in actual history, it does make me uneasy.

Then, to make Horthy a definite ally, I should support his side.

Hmm. Still, I can’t extend my reach to Austria.

“But you’ll need to secure Austria’s cooperation yourself, Regent.”

“I have no choice.”

And so I formed a secret agreement with Horthy.

Horthy left with a bright face like a child who had received a desired toy.

This feels like a student named Horthy and a teacher fixing grades.

But then…

“You’re truly remarkable.”

Mikhail Drozdovsky, recently appointed Deputy Minister of Defense, looked at me with sparkling eyes, like a student admiring a respected teacher.

This man was present during our “grade-fixing” secret agreement.

“Pardon?”

“Bessarabia was our territory that Romania slyly took after the Great War. When the civil war ended, we found Romania had quietly taken it. With Britain backing them, we couldn’t raise the Bessarabia issue until now.”

“Is that so?”

I see. I didn’t know that.

“When you first mentioned giving up claims to Bessarabia, I honestly wondered what plan Your Majesty was formulating.”

“Ah. I see.”

Me, formulating plans? That’s not even funny.

I’m just doing the best I can.

“So you actually planned everything, even anticipating that Horthy would come to you.”

“That’s not exactly…”

It’s better to let him think what he wants.

Rather than saying “That wasn’t my intention at all,” it’s better to maintain the mystique by leaving things unsaid.

If I admitted it was just a lucky coincidence, it might damage my reputation, so I’d rather not.